Raynham, Mass. (AP) - Those who sacrifice for their country deserve to be honored with their country's flag, according to the family of a war hero from Raynham.

Paul Monti, father of Medal of Honor recipient Jared Monti, is leading an effort to place 56,000 American flags at graves in the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne.

Monti said the initiative comes after a four-year effort to get permission for flag placement at the site, with an agreement that the flags will be placed for one-week periods coinciding with Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

"Basically, this is about doing the right thing for your veterans," said Monti, explaining that authorization for flag placement was secured about a month ago.

"They fought for you, they fought for the freedom of this country and our way of life," he said. "The least we can do is honor them with a flag."

Monti said he first started working on what is being called the "Flags for Vets" campaign while visiting his son's grave on the Veterans Day following his death.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti was 30 years old when he was killed in Afghanistan on June 21, 2006. He was shot while attempting to rescue a fellow soldier.

"On Veterans Day, when I went to his grave, there were no flags on the graves," Monti said. "I was a little upset. (At) all the local cemeteries there are flags at veterans' graves. And here is a national cemetery and no flags."

Monti said management had problems maintaining the cemetery with flags at every grave, and argued that an "Avenue of Flags" on cemetery grounds was enough. Monti disagreed.

After explaining his concern to political leaders at the national level, a deal was worked out with the superintendent of the cemetery. Monti said the flags can now be placed on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, provided they are removed a week later.

Now Monti is trying to raise $56,000 to purchase the flags - at $1 apiece - and recruiting volunteers to help place them.

"I'm going to be contacting as many people as I can, from children at school to the man on the street," Monti said. "Hopefully, we'll get some corporate donations. I think it's worthy enough for people to stand up and say, 'I'll spend a dollar for a flag to put on a grave.' "